Article forming and handling mechanism



Oct. 27, 1942. G. GOEBEL 2,299,816

AR ICLE FORMINGAND HANDLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 18, 1938 2 Sneets-Sheet 1 Go-rge '602192 1/.

G. G OEBEL Oct. 27, 1942.

' ARTICLE FORMING AND HANDLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 1a, 1938 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 George 666642 '6 Patented Oct. 27, 1942 ARTICIJE FORMING AND HANDLING MECHANISM George Goebel, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York Application October 18, 1938,. Serial No. 235,667

Claims.

The present invention relates to an article forming and handling mechanism and, more particularly, to means for conducting formed articles from a punch press.

In the forming of substantially flat articles, such as sheet metal can tops, upon a punch press, it is desirable to keep the can tops separated when they leave the press so that they will not become nested. Such nesting is undesirable because-after the tops have been punched from a metal sheet and substantially formed by the punch press, they must move in single line to a curling mechanism to have their fiat edges slightly curled. If two articles should become nested immediately after the punching operation and while their edges are still fiat, they cannot be separated before reaching the curling mechanism and will either both be curled simultaneously while nested, and hence permanently joined to each other, or one or both of the can tops will be-defor-med in the curler.

Heretofore, in forming articles such as can tops; that is, articles apt to become nested in such a way as to interfere with their subsequent handling, it has'beennecessary to provide but one row of dies upon the punch press and to so arrange this row of dies thatthe articles could not become nested when leaving the press. The use of only a single row of dies has naturally limitedthe output of the punch press.

The principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a structure including a punch press having a multiple row of dies and means to transport or move can tops or other articles from the punch press without possibility of the articles from the one row of dies becoming nested or otherwise interfering with articles formed byanother row of dies.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification in which:

Figure l is a view in front elevation of a punch press and curling means associated therewith, the view being taken in the direction of thearrow A ofFigure 3;

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the bed plate of a punch pressand the article removing means associated therewith, the view being taken from thedirection of the arrow-B in Figure 3;

Figure-'3,is 'atransverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view of the punch press of Figure 1, showing the article removing means in vertical section;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional View of a can is usual in punch presses of this type, the head I2 reciprocates with respect to the bed plate so that upper or male dies I3 carried by the moving head will coact with lower or female dies I4 to cut a disk from a sheet of metal and simultaneously form the disk to a desired shape. The sheet of metal to be cut is fed upwardly by suitable means, not shown, through a passage I 5 provided between the upper face I? of the bed plate I I and the lower surface of a face plate It, plate I8 having a plurality of circular openings I9 formed therein, one in alignment with each of the dies I l.

As indicated in Figures 1 and 2, the lower dies I4 are arranged in two rows 20 and 2| and since the bed plate I I is inclined, the row 28 is beneath the row ZI. Also, the dies I4 of the respective rows are staggered with respect to each other so that a die of the upper row 2| will not be in alignment with a die of the lower row 29.

A guide or conveyor plate 24 is provided to conduct from the press the can tops formed by the die elements of the lower row 20, the inner edge of this guide plate bearing upon the face plate I18 just below the lower row of cut-outs I9 thereof. The lower edges of the cut-outs I9 are beveled as indicated'at ISa. Hence, when a well-known means, that can top Will slide down The the plate I8 and onto the guide plate 24. lower edge of the guide plate 2 1 extendsto the lower run 25 of an endless conveyor 26 which run, asindicated in Figure 1, moves to the left to convey the can tops to a chute 26 down which they move to a curling mechanism 21 of usual construction.

A'n'upper guide or conveyor plate 30 is secured at its lower edge to the frame 25a of the conveyor 25 and has its upper edge bearing upon the "face plate I 8. Asbest" shown in Figure 2, the guide plate 30 has portions cut away from its uppermost portion as indicated at 3|, these cut-out portions being in alignment with the dies of the lower row 20 and so spaced as to provide tongues 32 which bear upon the face plate I8 at points between the dies of the lower row 20 and along a horizontal line adjacent the upper edge of the die elements I4 of the lower row 29. By this arrangement, since the upper row of elements 2| is staggered with respect to the lower row 20, each tongue 32 will be directly beneath a die M of the upper row 2|. Obviously, when a can top formed by any one of the die elements M of the upper row is expelled from such element, that can top will move directly downwardly along the face plate l8 and onto the aligned tongue 32 of upper guide plate 30 and thence downwardly to the upper run 36 of the endless conveyor 25. This run of the conveyor is moving to the right as viewed in Figure 1 and will convey the can tops to a chute 35 which leads to a second curler 36.

The conveyor 25 is driven from the press at such speed that it will be impossible for two can tops of a batch produced by either the upper row of die elements or the lower row of die elements to fall upon the conveyor in nested relation. Hence, each can top will move separately to the curling mechanism and there will be no possibility of their becoming nested. The desirability of keeping the can tops separate will be understood from Figure 5, wherein an incompleted can top C of the form produced by the punch press is illustrated in vertical section. t will be appreciated from this view that two top elements C could readily become nested should one fall upon the other. Figure 6 shows a completed can top that is, a top having its edges curled as indicated at CC. Because of the curl at the edge of the completed tops, they cannot become nested and once they have moved through the curling mechanism 2'5 and 36, may be piled in a stack by suitable handling mechanism, not shown, provided at the outfeed of the curling mechanism.

While the structure of the present invention has been described in connection with a punch press for can tops, its broad embodiment is not limited to use with such an apparatus, the invention being applicable to any mechanism wherein articles are shaped to a form in which they may ordinarily nest or contact with each other and thereby interfere with one another during subsequent handling.

The phraseology used in the specification is not intended to limit the invention, the scope of the invention being indicated in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination in a punch press, of an inclined bed plate, a pair of rows of die elements,

one row positioned above the other on said inclined bed plate, the die elements of one row being staggered with respect to the die elements of the other row, and a guide plate to receive articles extending from a transverse line on said bed plate substantially between the rows of die elements. said guide plate being cut away at points in alignment with the die elements of the lower row of dies.

2. The combination in a punch press, of a bed plate and a press head, a pair of rows of die sets, each set having one die element thereof carried on said bed plate and its other element carried on said press head, one row of die elements being positioned above the other on said bed plate, and a pair of guide plates for guiding formed articles from the press, said guide plates being positioned at the side of the bed plate nearest the lower row of die elements, one guide plate being superposed with respect to the other and each guide plate having a receiving edge adjacent one row of die elements of the bed plate to receive articles formed by that row of die elements, the upper guide plate being so constructed as not to interfere with the operation of the press head die elements which cooperate with the lower row of elements on the bed plate.

3. The combination in a punch press, of a bed plate and a press head, a pair of rows of die sets, each set having one die element thereof carried on said bed plate and its other element carried on said press head, one row of die elements being positioned above the other on said bed plate, a pair of guide plates for guiding formed articles from the press, said guide plates being positioned at the side of the bed plate nearest the lower row of die elements, one guide plate being superposed with respect to the other and each guide plate having a receiving edge adjacent one row of die elements of the bed plate to receive articles formed by that row of die elements, the upper guide plate being so constructed as not to interfere with the operation of the press head die elements which cooperate with the lower row of elements on the bed plate, and upper and'lower conveyors respectively positioned adjacent each of said guide plates to receive articles from the latter.

4. The combination in a punch press, of a press head and an inclined bed plate, a pair of rows of die sets, each die set having one element thereof carried on said bed plate and its other element in said press head, one row of bed plate elements being higher on the bed plate than the other, and a pair of guide plates for guiding formed articles from the press, said guide plates being positioned at the lower side of the bed plate, one guide plate being superposed with respect to the other and each guide plate having a receiving edge adjacent one row of die elements of the bed plate to receive articles formed by the corresponding row of die sets, the upper guide plate being so constructed as not to interfere with the operation of the press head die elements which cooperate with the lower row of elements on the bed plate.

5. The combination in a punch press, of a press head and an inclined bed plate, a pair of rows of die sets, each die set having one element thereof carried on said bed plate and its other element in said press head, one row of bed plate elements being higher on the bed plate than the other, a pair of guide plates for guiding formed articles from the press, said guide plates being positioned at the lower side of the bed plate, one guide plate being superposed with respect to the other and each guide plate having a receiving edge adjacent one row of die elements of the bed plate to receive articles formed by the corresponding row of die sets, the upper guide plate being so constructed as not to interfere with the operation of the press head die elements which cooperate with the lower row of elements on the bed plate, and upper and lower conveyors moving in opposite directions positioned adjacent each of said guide plates to receive articles from the latter.

GEORGE GOEBEL. 

